Heelplate for a rifle

ABSTRACT

A heelplate for a rifle butt has a rigid plastics part including a bulge at the upper end of the heelplate. The lower end of the heelplate is formed by a resilient pad merging smoothly with the rigid plate below the bulge.

United States Patent Locatelli 14 1 Aug. 15, 1972 [54] HEELPLATE FOR A RIFLE [56] References Cited [72] Inventor: Lott Locatelll, Via Trento 38, ITED STATES PATENTS Tvswlano. Brescia. Italy 1,642,835 9/1927 Ammann ..42/14 22 Filed; March 17 197 1,822,875 9/193] Ammann ..42/74 2,650,446 9/1953 Bivens ..42/74 pp 125,038 3,208,180 9/1965 Woodcock ..42/14 Primary Examiner-Benjamin A. Borchelt [30] Foreign Appmuon Priority Data Assistant Examiner-C. T. Jordan March 26, 1970 Italy ..53096 A/70 y g Rothwell. Mion. Zinn & Macpeak [52 11.5. C1 ..42/74 [571 ABSTRACT [5]] Int. Cl. ..F4lc 23/00 A heelplate for a rifle butt has a rigid plastics part in- [58] Field of Search ..42/74; 1/71 R l ing a lge a the upper end of the heelplate. The

lower end of the heelplate is formed by a resilient pad merging smoothly with the rigid plate below the bulge.

4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Patented Aug. 15, 1972 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 1

INVENTOR Lam TELL/ LORIS 3 ml 1 23 1mm M,

Patented Aug. 15, 1972 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4

'III) {a IIIIII 4 'J'III'.

HEELPLATE FOR A RIFLE This invention relates to a heelplate for a rifle, attached to the butt at the end which bears against the marksman 's shoulder.

It is known for the heelplate to be of metal. This provides sound protection of the rifle when its butt is rested on the ground, but does nothing to lessen the unpleasant recoil against the marksman s shoulder on firing. On the other hand, it is also known to have a resilient heelplate, made of an elastomer. This construction dampens the recoil but does not adequately protect the butt when the rifle is rested against the ground since the rubber itself wears rapidly against the ground. Another severe drawback of the resilient heelplate is that, since it has a high coefficient of friction, the heelplate tends to make the rifle difficult to raise rapidly to the marksmans shoulder in the firing position, tending to drag his clothing with it as it engages the clothing. The part of the heelplate responsible for this is the upper end, which in metal heelplates customarily has a smoothly rounded bulge, but which in known resilient heelplates is sharp-cornered. This drawback is particularly disadvantageous in hunting rifles, where rapid raising of the weapon to the firing position is essential.

An object of the invention is to provide a heelplate which overcomes these disadvantages, and in particular combines the advantages of metal heelplates with those of resilient heelplates.

According to the invention, a heelplate for a rifle comprises a plate of rigid material adapted to be attached to the rifle butt and having a bulge at its upper end; with the improvement that such plate is formed of a plastic material having a low coefficient of friction with textile material, and including a pad of resilient material attached to the plate to cover its lower portion and merging smoothly with the plate below the bulge.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a heelplate according to the invention;

P16. 2 is a front view of the heelplate of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectioned view on the line III- III of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4,5 and 6 are transverse sectioned views along the lines lV-IV, V-V and VI-VI of FIG. 2.

The heelplate illustrated comprises a plate I of rigid plastic material such as polyamide or acetal resin, which in common with similar plastic materials has a low coefficient of friction with textile materials. The plate I is of generally constant thickness except at its upper end, where it has a bulge 2 that terminates abruptly at its lower end 3 and is undercut to form a cavity 4 (FIG. 3). In front view (FIG. 2) the bulge 2 is seen also to have a central generally semi-circular cavity 5. The profile of the plate I follows the curvature of a hunting rifle butt 9 to which it is attached.

The lower portion of the plate I is covered by a pad 6 of resilient material, such as neoprene, which is attached to the plate I by adhesive (not shown) and which merges smoothly with the curvature of the plate 1 below the bulge 2, abutting its lower end 3. The pad 6 has an extension 7 (FIG. 3) which fits complementally into the undercut cavity 4 of the bulge 2, and a raised portion on the extension 7 that obturates the central cavit 5. The result is toform a surface of the heelplate WhlC is virtually continuous although composed of two different materials. The pad 6 is traversed by a series of transverse lightening holes 8 which serve also to increase the resilience of the pad and thus its recoil-absorbing powers.

The composite heelplate 1,6 is fixed to the butt 9 by means of screws 10 which extend through the plate I and whose heads 11 (FIG. 3) are covered by the pad 6. Small holes 12 in the surface of the pad 6, widening with depthr, allow the insertion of a screwdriver for access to the heads 1 1.

In use, when the rifle is raised to the firing position, the bulge 2 slides with only slight friction against the marksmans clothing, the pad 6 not contacting the clothing until the rifle is in the firing position. Once in this position, the pad 6, which naturally has a high coefficient of friction with textile material, keeps the butt firmly and stably in place on the marksman's shoulder while also absorbing recoil.

What I claim is:

l. A heelplate for a rifle butt comprising a plate of rigid material adapted to be attached to the rifle butt and having a bulge at its upper end; with the improvement that such plate is formed of a plastic material having a low coefficient of friction with textile material, and including a pad of resilient material attached to the plate to cover its lower portion and merge smoothly with the plate below the bulge.

2. The heelplate of claim 1, in which the bulge has an undercut cavity and the pad has an extension which fits complementally into such cavity.

3. The heelplate of claim 2, characterized by a central recess in the bulge and including a portion of the pad which obturates such central cavity.

4. The heelplate of claim 2, including a series of holes in the pad, which holes increase the resilience of the pad. 

1. A heelplate for a rifle butt comprising a plate of rigid material adapted to be attached to the rifle butt and having a bulge at its upper end; with the improvement that such plate is formed of a plastic material having a low coefficient of friction with textile material, and including a pad of resilient material attached to the plate to cover its lower portion and merge smoothly with the plate below the bulge.
 2. The heelplate of claim 1, in which the bulge has an undercut cavity and the pad has an extension which fits complementally into such cavity.
 3. The heelplate of claim 2, characterized by a central recess in the bulge and including a portion of the pad which obturates such central cavity.
 4. The heelplate of claim 2, including a series of holes in the pad, which holes increase the resilience of the pad. 